Nowadays, the information recording technique, particularly the magnetic recording technique, requires a significant technological innovation following the development of the IT industry. For magnetic disks adapted to be mounted in magnetic disk apparatuses such as HDDs (hard disk drives), there is required a technique capable of achieving an information recording density of 100 Gbit/inch2 or more. Hitherto, in a magnetic disk, a magnetic layer adapted to record information is provided on a substrate and, on the magnetic layer, there are provided a protective layer for protecting the magnetic layer and a lubricating layer for reducing interference from a flying magnetic head. Further, in recent years, as a HDD start/stop mechanism, it has been required to use, instead of the conventional CSS (contact start/stop) system, the LUL system (load/unload system, also called the ramp load system) capable of increasing the capacity.
Patent Document 1: International Publication No. 99/014746 Pamphlet